Oceanografic (and a boat load more blogs to come)

As state before, internet wasn't always nice to us in Spain, and my laptop is slow in general (being darn near 5 years old!) So now I am taking the saved posts off of my computer and uploading them now that the internet is better and I have been able to upload my pictures without fear of losing them.

May 16&17
To finish week two, We continued the building of boxes for the plants and continued with placing them out into one of the lakes that had already been filled, not the one we were working on filling. (The flamingo lake for a lack of better term). The following day, Saturday the 17th, Josh, myself, and our roommate Almendra ventured out the the Oceanografic which is the largest aquarium in Europe! Right down the riverbed in Valencia. In case I haven't mentioned yet, the riverbed is like any other big river bed in a city, except for it has been drained (dammed) for over 50 years. The result? Instead of leaving the river bed dried and emptied, Valencia constructed miles long park! With structures, playgrounds, outdoor workout equipment, places for concerts and horse shows, and dog parks. It is AMAZING and is probably my favorite thing to do in Valencia :)

Anyways, the aquarium had exhibits displaying water environment across the world, including Albufera natural park. The same rehabilitation center and breeding center within Albufera also work with the Oceanografic when they are in need of a certain species. There also was an exhibit on northern american fish...was not too exciting compared to the rest. There was also a penguin exhibit, stinky as your typical penguin exhibit along with sharks, dolphins, and a biosphere built so the wild birds can roam free. We of course ended up at a dolphin show that last probably half an hour and was full of fun tricks and stunts. Josh and I finished the day by shopping at the local Carre Four to try and find him shoes to replace the shoes that had been destroyed at Albufera, nature was not kind to them (ended up getting shoes at El Corte Ingles instead) but while there, we were able to find WHITE SAUCE!! for cooking! I know this sounds silly but the Spanish people must be amendment against alfredo sauce or white sauce in general. You mention you want white sauce and they take you to mayo....ew..So yeah,, high light of that day :P

-Sarita